What do you think?
By US standards or by German standards?
Well, given the intellectual climate of the country these days, it will probably hurt Obama.
I don't think it's brilliant by any standard
The very fact you have to ask that probably proves there's something wrong with it. The New Yorker is a liberal magazine (although it's not a political magazine as such).Where does the New Yorker generally position itself on the political fence?
From what I understand, there is a long feature story about Obama's start in Chicago politics inside, but nothing really pertinent to the cover (their covers are often not particularly relevant to the contents). I don't think the issue hits newsstands until tomorrow, though, so no way to verify that.but, I wonder is there an article? some content?
if so, what does it say?
Could it make a case for Obama and against the people that fuel these false rumors ?
I think that brilliant satire is almost by definition offensive, or implies something offensive to some people.
Agreed in general. However, the best of satire shouldn't JUST be about offending people.
Humourless bunch.Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says: "“The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree
Who is offended?
It is a silly picture.
That makes fun of the people that spread all the rumors.
I agree with you.
But at the same time I think the picture is too high brow for a good 50% of the population. Then again, I wouldn't imagine them to be New Yorker readers in the first place.
The illustration, by Barry Blitt,is called "The Politics of Fear" and, according to the NYer press release, "satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign."
If they incorporated that title in the image somewhere, like the outline of the carpet, it would make all the difference. Otherwise, it just hits in the wrong way...like a joke nobody gets, except the person telling it.
My vote:
It's not offensive, but it's also not "brilliant" satire.
I saw it and did not blink, one way or the other. And I hope to the high heavens that people don't actually look at that and think it's all that highbrow. It's not.
What do you think?